Md. Hauser, ONTOGENY OF FORAGING BEHAVIOR IN WILD VERVET MONKEYS (CERCOPITHECUS-AETHIOPS) - SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND SURVIVAL, Journal of comparative psychology, 107(3), 1993, pp. 276-282
The ontogeny of feeding behavior was explored by making observations o
f 32 vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) infants in Amboseli Nation
al Park. Kenya. In contrast to adults and juveniles, infants appear to
treat all primary food products in their diet as equally valuable. Th
ese age-related differences may reflect differences in food preference
. To assess social influences, feeding synchrony between mother and in
fant was explored. From birth to 2 months, infants typically fed async
hronously with respect to their mother's feeding bouts. From 2 to 12 m
onths, however, most infants fed at the same time and on the same food
items as their mothers. Among infants, there was a significant positi
ve association between the proportion of synchronous, same food bouts
and the probability of survival. Variation among infants in access to
resources and encounter rates with predators did not, however, have a
significant effect on survival.